Passion Party #404 - The Fourth Quarter

Our world is set up in a wonderful way:
The day is divided into
morning - midday - evening - night
The year is divided into
winter - spring - summer - fall
and so without our knowledge or desire
our lives easily and naturally subdivide.
whether we want it or not,
our body clock feels the changes.

When we get in tune with this,
Time becomes our friend
instead of our enemy.

We can grow old watching these changes
or we can grow young embracing these changes
using each season,
each quarter of the year,
to measure our growth
and see how close we get to
our most Audacious Goals.

Passion Party #403 - A Prayer For The Mortgage Business

Please allow common sense to prevail
Remove guidelines that are redundant for they clog up the system
Remove the layers of bureaucracy
so that money can flow
to where it is requested and deserved.
Let there be one principle guideline:
"Does this impact the client's ability to repay the loan in a negative way?
If not, it does not matter".
Let me stand in this stream of abundance
helping to channel it
to the greatest good.

Passion Party #402 - A Prayer For My Country

Please let me find a common language
so I can speak with others in unity
and harmony

Let me work with others for the common good
Let me lead by example.

Show me what I can do
to improve America
to help my friends, neighbors and community to create a life
that will bring a better world
to our children and grandchildren.

Passion Party #401 - In The Box

We have been trained to stay
in the box.

We wear a collar called "What We Know".
We spent 12 years of our early life
being taught to write on the lines,
color within the margins,
move to the next class when the bell rings,
and since then we have been burned
by going too far astray.

Perhaps we ventured out once
and felt the pain
and now we won't go near the edge.
We stay in the box
because we remember the pain of the unknown.

But guess what?
The wire broke a while ago
and the system doesn't work.
We can take off the collar
and we won't get shocked.

Its okay to ask "I wonder what would happen if..."
and do something about it.
Growth happens with curiosity
outside the box.
Step outside, and look around.

Passion Party #400 - Passion and Skill

You can be a skillful craftsman
but without passion for what you do
it is just product.

You can be passionate about something
but without the skill to do it
the passion will fade to a hobby.

Great careers are found
at the intersection of Passion and Skill.

Passion Party #399 - Management Vs. Leadership

Management
is telling people what to do.
Leadership
is showing people what to do.

Management
is polarizing (us vs. them).
Leadership
is collaborative (we're all in this together).

Management takes time.
Leadership creates time.

Passion Party #398 - Commitment

Ever since my first sales job, I always felt that I could do the manager's job better than the person I was working under. But I didn't want to be a "manager". The manager's job was on the "dark side":
- it took more hours
- it took commitment
- it involved hiring and firing, monitoring and penalizing people.
I didn't want that job. I didn't want my "work" to become my "life". My dad had spent his whole life building a company, and I wanted to live “life”, not live “work”. I had the perception that in the “us vs. them” world, I would rather be on the side of freedom, rather than management.

Then in 1995 I was hired as a loan officer for a national bank that was moving into California. Two weeks after I was hired, the manager quit. A decision was made not to hire a new manager. Our division of 20 loan officers would just hand our files into the wholesale loan division, and hope for the best.

It was then that I made a decision: I would become the Retail Loan Manager.
After 8 years in the banking business I knew I could be a production manager, but until then I never had the desire. I remember saying that night to my wife, "I am going to be the manager".

The next day when I walked into the bank, everything seemed different. The way I interacted with people was different. The way I felt was different. Even the way I walked seemed different. Before I approached the wholesale operations manager to apply for the job, I was already acting as if I had the job.

I had made a commitment to mortgage banking.
I had made a decision to lead.
I knew I could do it, and that I would do it.

After a few weeks of negotiation, I officially had the job, working side by side with the wholesale ops manager. She went on to become a great friend and mentor.

It was the commitment and the decision that made the difference. It was the start of my becoming a leader.